Finding the heroism in all the horror.
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00:00The world of the horror genre can be a grim, unforgiving place.
00:04Often vehicles for wince-worthy violence or sudden untimely ends for seemingly main characters,
00:10the horror genre rarely gives its inhabitants a break.
00:13Therefore, it warms my heart to see one of those characters trapped in this merciless playground
00:18to take the plunge and prove that humanity's inherent goodness is still alive and kicking.
00:23With that in mind, I'm Adam from WhatCulture,
00:26and here are 10 Greatest Sacrifices in Horror Movie History.
00:3010. Child's Play III The Chucky-centric child's play
00:34franchise has always walked that fine line between silly and scary since its inception in 1988.
00:411991's third installment perhaps crosses that line into silly territory more than the rest.
00:47But that doesn't mean it's without an emotionally charged moment or two.
00:51In the midst of the school's annual war games,
00:53serial killer possessed Chucky begins causing havoc by introducing live rounds to the festivities.
00:59This causes the red and blue team to turn on each other and then,
01:02too distracted by their arguments, they all fail to realise that the evil doll
01:06has chucked a live grenade in their midst.
01:09All that is except poor Whitehurst who has been cowering away from the conflict up until this
01:14point. Recognising the danger, Whitehurst leaps up and flings himself onto the live
01:18grenade to protect his friends, blowing himself to smithereens in the process.
01:23Child's Play is a fairly ridiculous watch in all honesty, but this moment stands out
01:28in the film for the heroism shown by the previously scared stiffed Whitehurst,
01:32and certainly adds some drama to a horror that is often tough to take seriously.
01:379. The Shining This particular entry is both one of the
01:41great heroic sacrifices in horror movie history, but also one of the most monumental failures as
01:46well. When Jack Nicholson's Jack Torrance finally snaps and turns on his family,
01:51his shining blessed son Danny uses his abilities to contact hotel kook Dick Halloran to come and
01:57save them. Halloran braves the elements, hops a plane and ploughs his way up the mountain to help
02:02save this young boy he's just met. However, it does not go to plan as he is axed down almost
02:08immediately by the psychotic Jack Torrance. Halloran's spectacular failures become
02:12somewhat legendary in horror circles, most notably being referenced in a particularly
02:17great Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons. However, it does not change the heroic nature of
02:23the effort. In fact, the overwhelming failure of it should only serve to further highlight the
02:28fact that Dick Halloran was nothing more than an aging kook just trying to do the right thing.
02:33He never stood a chance against Nicholson's unhinged lunatic, but he showed up anyway,
02:38an unsung hero of one of the greatest horror movies of all time.
02:428. Alien 3 In all honesty, Alien 3 is a bit of a mess
02:47of a film. The Alien series has exceptionally solid entries in its first and second movie,
02:52and this works against its third entry. It's by no means an absolutely terrible film,
02:58just lacking in comparison. However, with the great David Fincher at the helm,
03:02it was bound to deliver a few iconic moments somewhere along the way. One such moment comes
03:07in the form of the selfless end to Charles S. Dutton's Dylan, in order to save beloved series
03:12lead Ellen Ripley. A little research actually shows Charles Dutton is no stranger to heroic
03:17sacrifices in film, but Alien 3 is perhaps the most well-known example of this. While attempting
03:23to trap the xenomorph in a pit of molten lead, Dylan stands down to distract the creature from
03:27simply climbing the walls to freedom. In heroic defiance, he screams to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley
03:32to pour the lead as he's ripped to shreds by the vicious alien. A grim end with a heroic twist.
03:397. I Am Legend Yes, Will Smith sacrifices himself to save
03:44the world in one of the alternative endings for this film. No, this entry is not about him. Yes,
03:50it's about the dog. 2007's I Am Legend is admittedly more of a horror-tinged thriller
03:55than a standard horror flick, but it certainly had its fair share of terrifying and harrowing
04:00moments all the same. No more so than the heroic sacrifice made by good girl Sam to save her
04:05owner's life from dark seeker dogs. Smith's Robert Neville is jumped by the mutant dogs and,
04:10when her owner is in a serious bind, Sam charges in and protects her master like the best dog,
04:16but is sadly and fatefully bitten during the struggle. I Am Legend is actually one of the
04:21better Smith pictures to have graced the big screen, and the heartbreaking moment when he's
04:25forced to put the courageous Samantha down is a huge part of why the film elicited so much emotion.
04:31It's a truly brave sacrifice by the real star of this post-apocalyptic horror-style thriller,
04:37and I'm not crying, you are. 6. Dawn of the Dead
04:42Movie remakes these days are a dime a dozen, and rightfully or wrongly, this has often led to
04:47accusations of laziness and lack of originality throughout Hollywood. However, if one were
04:52looking for a shining beacon to look to for how to do a remake, 2004's Dawn of the Dead would
04:58probably be that blueprint. The movie is an excellent reimagine of the iconic zombie flick
05:03and features a number of interesting characters throughout, none more so than Michael Kelly's CJ.
05:09Originally starting the film as more of an antagonist who tries to stop our protagonists
05:13from entering the mall, CJ soon softens and becomes an integral part of the group. It's
05:18a great example of how to successfully do a character arc, and his heroic end only serves
05:24to hammer this point home. On the way to the marina, the convoy is jumped by zombies and
05:29seemingly cut off from their best hope of safety. However, in a fantastic moment of selflessness,
05:34the newly reformed CJ stays back to draw in as many zombies as he can and shoots a propane tank
05:40to put a decent dent in the undead forces. Fair play, CJ, really turned things around.
05:4728 Weeks Later was a pretty decent follow-up to Danny Boyle's superbly intense,
05:54apocalyptic horror 28 Days Later. The film takes a more action-orientated approach to its
05:59predecessor and, although it doesn't have the haunting atmosphere or originality of the
06:04fantastic original, there's a lot to like in the 2007 follow-up. The characters are a particular
06:10standout from the film, one of the most notable being Jeremy Renner's empathic soldier, Doyle.
06:15In a series of films really famed for showing some of the uglier elements of humanity in crisis,
06:21Doyle sticks out as a compassionate and kind figure. This is highlighted by his truly gut-wrenching
06:27end when he clambers out of a stalled vehicle to push it to safety from the pursuing military,
06:31saving the kids inside it from further misery, only to be grimly soaked in a vicious blaze just
06:36as the car wheels away from him. The 20th series has never shied away from the grim reality of a
06:42post-apocalyptic, rage-filled world, but even by its own standards, Doyle's demise was a bitter
06:48pill to swallow, a heroic sacrifice from a thoroughly decent fella.
06:524. 30 Days of Night
06:5530 Days of Night is a surprisingly excellent vampire film from 2007, based off a comic
07:00book miniseries of the same name. The film's premise of a vampire attack during a month-long
07:05period of no sun in Alaska is an excellent one, and the setting and stakes really work
07:11in the film's favour. The film is even led by a, based on the majority of films he was doing
07:15around this time, surprisingly impressive performance by Josh Hartnett as Barrowtown
07:20Sheriff Eben Oleson. The film of course plays into Hartnett's hands by making him the heroic lead,
07:26but it is the hard choices he is forced to make along the way that add an extra layer to the film
07:31for Hartnett. No choice tougher than his final decision to turn himself into a vampire in order
07:36to kill the wicked head vampire Marlow. Oleson makes this sacrifice in order to protect his
07:41estranged wife Stella and the people of Barrowtown before sitting with his wife,
07:45waiting for the sun to come up to protect them all from himself. It is an entirely selfless act
07:50from Oleson, and a fantastic end to a pretty original take on a genre that is already well-mined.
07:563. Event Horizon
07:59Event Horizon has long been heralded as one of the most underrated sci-fi films of all time,
08:04and an integral part of what makes the space horror such a cult classic is that it serves
08:09up one of the greatest protagonists in horror or science fiction in Laurence Fishburne's Captain
08:14Miller. Fishburne's Miller manages to stand out in a film absolutely packed with talent. Jason Isaacs,
08:20Sam Neill and Kathleen Quinlan are all fantastic in the film, but it is Miller who really makes an
08:26impact on the audience, and a huge part of this is down to Miller's courageous demise at the
08:31film's climax. After outlasting many of his crew members, Miller confronts a disfigured Weir
08:36looking to send the captain's remaining crew to hell. Unbeknownst to Weir, Miller has concocted
08:41a plan to split the ship in two with explosives to rocket the crew to safety, though this doesn't
08:47work out from the get-go. At the peak moment when Weir thinks he has won, Miller heroically
08:52grasps the switch for the explosives and sets it off, sacrificing himself and helping to save his
08:58remaining crew members. A great captain goes down with the ship, and Event Horizon's Captain
09:03Miller did just that.
09:071980's horror classic Predator is one of the most beloved films of all time,
09:11and it's honestly not difficult to see why. The film is wall-to-wall with fantastic moments,
09:17memorable quotes and a healthy dose of cheese to top it all off.
09:21One of the most iconic moments in the whole film comes when the burly bandana-wearing Billy decides
09:26to stay back and keep the Predator at bay to allow his pals to get to the chopper.
09:31The stoic Billy removes his jacket and stares down the camouflaged hunter before pulling out
09:36his knife, cutting himself to entice the creature to focus on him to buy the rest time. It's one of
09:42the most truly badass moments in cinema, and an unexpectedly heroic moment from a character who'd
09:47barely even spoken up until that point. The fact that Billy is almost immediately ripped apart and
09:53his distraction fails to really pay off doesn't change the fact that he made the gesture.
09:58A noble sacrifice. Rest in peace, Billy.
10:03A Quiet Place was an undoubted hit in cinemas a few years back, after being released to fairly
10:08little fanfare. The film is clever, original, tense and deeply terrifying at points, and it
10:15became an instant modern classic for the horror genre. The fantastic John Krasinski was involved
10:20in almost every department of the film, including its most emotionally charged moment. Krasinski
10:26plays the loving father to his remaining two children after one of them was taken away from
10:30them, as he tries to survive and navigate his family through an infestation of blind
10:35extraterrestrials that hunt by sound. In the film's final act, the two children are cornered
10:40in a beat-up car, about to get preyed upon by one of the vicious creatures until Dad steps in.
10:46In a moment to make any watching father proud, Krasinski's Lee Abbott lets out a roar of defiance
10:52to pull the creature away from his helpless children. The beast immediately turns on our
10:57brilliantly sympathetic protagonist and proceeds to tear him to shreds, leaving his grieving
11:02children enough time to escape, and earning himself a Father of the Year nod along the way,
11:07no doubt.
11:08And there we have it folks, our list of the 10 greatest sacrifices in horror movie history,
11:13but please do let us know down in that comment section, which horror movie sacrifice that you
11:17absolutely love. And while you're down there, please do give us a like and a subscribe.
11:21If you want to follow me on socials, I am at Strawn87 on Twitter and on Instagram,
11:26come and say hello to me on there. Thank you for watching everyone,
11:28I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and until next time, take care.